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'Chaos In The Council' — Meyerson WXRT 1988 investigation

by: Charles Meyerson

Publication date: 1988

Topics: WXRT, Chicago City Council, Charles Meyerson, Charlie Meyerson, Bert Natarus, Dick Simpson, Richard Simpson, Edwin Eisendrath, WXRT-FM, United Press International, Chaos in the Council, David Orr

Language: English

Item Size: 9.4M

In 1988, I was a newbie Chicago City Hall reporter for WXRT-FM. It was an assignment I relished not—partly because the City Council’s procedures were bewilderingly opaque and byzantine.

But I channeled my journalistic frustration into creation of a series that won a nationwide United Press International award for documentary radio reporting.

So, let’s return to the year 1988. Eugene Sawyer was briefly Chicago’s mayor, and a young journalist was pissed off at the difficulty navigating … Chaos in the Council.

—Charlie Meyerson